The year 2008 to 2009 was really turbulence for everybody, but yet AirAsia Bhd triplet its advertising spending. AirAsia saw opportunities to expand beyond economic slowdown. “I always believe nothing is impossible and for me, at this time of uncertainty, a lot of opportunities are there for us to grab,” CEO Boss, Fernandes further explained in airasiafansclub.
blogspot.com (2009). Later he stressed “.
.. This is the best time for you to build your brand as others are taking a step backward,” he saidIn most cases, everybody agreed that AirAsia has its own Finance Guru, and that has to be the CEO himself. Since 2009 AirAsia has been named the ”The World’s Best Low Cost Airlines” in the world. The best strategies seem applied during the economic downturn by AirAsia in 2008 to 2009. During global downturn, Wong (2014) stated “AirAsia increased efforts during the global downturn as Air Asia’s fellow competitors shrank back and cut down on flight routes. This strategy is called “Seize the opportunity to lead the sheep away”.
AirAsia even gave millions of free seats and increased advertising. What AirAsia did is to fill up the vacuum left in the industry and use to poach customers from other airlines.AirAsia’s success as referred to (AirAsia Berhad, 2009, p.6) had something to do with its guest confidence who prefer low fare with no-frills, convenient while at the same time hassle free in air travel. The key is to consistently maintaining lower cost.
AirAsia made it possible by following these key strategies: